From behind, puts his arm around my shoulder. This white gentleman, probably in his mid to late 40s, gets up from his table and walks across the bandstand. I came off the bandstand after the first set and I was walking across the dance floor to sit with some of my band mates. Well, here I was in The Silver Dollar Lounge, and for a summer I played there. In the bottom of the motel was this lounge called The Silver Dollar Lounge. Truck stop had a restaurant and had a motel. Well, there was this truck stop at a place called Frederick, Maryland. I was the only black guy in the band and consequently, usually the only black guy in many of the places where we played. In 1983, country music had made a resurgence in this country, so I joined a country band. It changed my attitude towards that particular dog, but I still love dogs. That did not change my attitude towards dogs. I was warned and I did not heed the warning. The nanny and the cook had to come rushing out and pull the thing off me. I figure, “Well, the mom lied to me.” I open the door. The little girl and I are playing in the living room and I said, “Why will your doggy bite me? Why is your doggy so mean?” The little girl said, “My dog is not mean.” Of course, she goes out there and the dog’s licking all over her and all excited to see her because the dog wanted to come in. The lady specifically told me, “Do not go out there and play with the dog Daryl. The dog was locked outside on the balcony. My mom and her were going shopping and so I was taken over there to be babysat. Three or four years later, I’d gone over to this girl’s house, a friend of my mom’s. First thing I go to do is go see my puppy. The next morning when I woke up, my mom had gone to the hospital. She was in back pain from that day until she died in 1986. When the little puppy ran up to her, my mom jumped out of fear. Then the little dog came running out excited to see her and ran to sniff her ankles or whatever. My mom came to the door to call me to come in for dinner. I’m playing with my new dog on the porch. She locked him outside, et cetera, et cetera. My father says to me, “Come take a ride with me.” I get in the vehicle and we go and ride out to this person’s house that my father knows. "How can you hate me when you don't even know me? That was the premise of the book.Daryl Davis – Musician, Hate Group Connoisseur He began to travel the country, interviewing Klan members about their beliefs. The experiences inspired Davis to write his book. Klan members became regulars at Davis performances, and he often spoke to them. "I did not believe him, and then when he produced his membership card, I stopped laughing."ĭavis continued talking with the man, who promised to bring his friends to the next gig. The man hesitated, then admitted he was an active member of the KKK. "And then he announced that this was the first time he'd ever sat down and had a drink with a black man. but he was fascinated enough that he invited me back to his table and have a beverage with him," Davis recalled. Perturbed, Davis explained that he had learned to play from the same people as Lewis, from black blues and boogie woogie pianists. The stranger told Daryl he'd never seen "a black man play piano like Jerry Lee Lewis." When he produced his membership card, I stopped laughing." - Daryl Davis Davis had just played a gig at a country bar in Frederick, Maryland, and was approached by a man in the crowd. His encounters with the KKK started unexpectedly one night in 1983. "It's very important that we learn how to communicate … and learn to respect each other." "Our society can only become one of two things, it can be become what we let it become or it can become what we make it, and I choose the latter," Davis said in an interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM. Fighting hate with friendship - one Exalted Cyclops at a timeĪfter decades spent befriending his enemies, Davis said there is one thing he knows for certain.The author of Klan-destine Relationships: A Black Man's Odyssey in the Ku Klux Klan and the subject of the 2016 documentary Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America, he has won numerous awards for his work. The blues pianist and race relations activist was in Edmonton Wednesday for a talk about his interactions with white supremacists. He has an official membership coin, and the discarded green silk robe of a KKK Grand Dragon in his closet. A black man, Davis has spent the last 35 years befriending members of the Ku Klux Klan.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |